1 Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to multi-well vessels and, more particularly, to multi-well vessels, such as microtiter plates, with integral heaters.
2. Background Art
Multi-well vessels, such as microtiter plates, are used for storage, processing and testing of biological and chemical samples in the pharmaceutical industry, for example. In many instances, a temperature controlled environment is required to preserve compound integrity or to conduct experiments where temperature is a controlled parameter. It is often desirable to position heating and/or cooling elements close to the samples in order to efficiently control the temperature in the multi-well vessel in a quick an uniform manner.
A typical approach is to provide a cooled or heated metal block, such as aluminum, in contact with a thin-walled plastic microtiter plate. However, the plate-to-block fit is typically inconsistent, which results in inconsistent heating and cooling. Also, the typically large thermal mass of the metal block causes undesirable effects such as temperature non-uniformity between samples. The large thermal mass of the metal block also limits the speed, or response time, at which the samples can be thermally cycled.
What is needed is a method and system for quickly, uniformly, and consistently controlling temperature in multi-well vessels.
The present invention is a multi-well system, which includes a multi-well vessel such as a microtiter plate, and an integral heater formed therein for quickly, uniformly, and consistently controlling temperature. In an implementation, the integral heater includes a heater plate beneath wells of a microtiter plate. In an implementation, the integral heater includes resistive wires positioned beneath and/or between wells of a microtiter plate.
In an embodiment, the multi-well vessel includes optically clear well bottoms that permit sensing and measurement of samples through the optically clear well bottoms. In an implementation, the integral heater includes an optically clear heater positioned beneath the optically clear well bottoms. In an implementation, the integral heater includes resistive wires between the wells.
In an embodiment, the multi-well vessel system includes a lid with an integral heater, which can include a heater plate, resistive wires, and the like.
In an embodiment, the multi-well vessel system includes an integral non-contact heater, such as a ferrous plate and/or ferrous particles, powder and/or fibers, which generate heat when subjected to an electromagnetic field, which can be generated by an inductive coil, for example.
In an embodiment, the multi-well vessel system includes a non-metallic substance, which generates heat when subjected to microwave radiation.
In an embodiment, the multi-well vessel system includes an integral thermostat that maintains a substantially constant temperature in the multi-well vessel system.
Further features and advantages of the invention, as well as the structure and operation of various embodiments of the invention, are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is noted that the invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described herein. Such embodiments are presented herein for illustrative purposes only. Additional embodiments will be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art(s) based on the teachings contained herein.
The drawing in which an element first appears is typically indicated by the leftmost digit(s) in the corresponding reference number.